Tiagho
Tiagho formerly the third largest city of the Dulama Empire and a center of the later Vithanama Empire is currently seat of an independent City-State Kingdom of the same name. Laying on the west bank of the River Abrea, at the edge of the Taidhe has been an imperial city much longer than it has been a subordinate city; the various dynasties that grew up around the city consistently led it to dominance over the surrounding cities rooted in its position at the nexus of east-west trade. It was only the massive and determined armies of the Tollanaugh Empire which finally brought the old empires of Tiagho to their knees. Since then, the city has continued to be an integral part of the western trade network, processing much of the riches of the west before they are distributed north to Arhat, east to the Ashelai Exatai or Dula, or sent hither to Aeda and the Koskhai lands. The Kingdom of Tiagho Since the fall of the Vithanama Empire and the conflict of the princes, Tiagho has consistently been one of the strongest of the small Dulama Kingdoms in the Western cradle fighting regularly with the various princedoms and kingdoms that emerged after the fall of the Vithanama at the beginning of the warring princes period. As of 1734 AR, the Kingdom is ruled by House Amatir and the King Fionnach. The Kingdom is organized along the principles of an aristocratic autocracy, with the King much in the manner of historical Dulama rulers sitting in an exalted role as the sovereign authority. He governs with the advice of the Royal Council which consists of a customary fourteen members, with this always including the following members. ~ The Crown Prince ~ The Patriarch of Tiagho ~ The Chief Secretary of the King ~ The Lord Marshal ~ The Chancellor of the Royal Finances ~ The High Steward ~ The High Justice ~ The Master of Works ~ The Royal Spymaster ~ The Prefect of Tiagho ~ The Representative of the Governor of Muyan --- Below the council, a civic bureaucracy institutes the Kings decrees, with this bureaucracy being divided into the following spheres. ~ The Board of Finances: Responsible for the collection of taxes, tolls and tariffs, and the management of royal finances. Headed by the Chancellor of the Royal Finances ~ The Board of Works: Responsible for construction, civic works, management of industry standards, weights and measures, and all ordinary administration at a national level. Headed by the High Steward. ~ The Board of Punishments Responsible for maintaining magistracies and courts of law, and for advising the King on matters of law. Headed by the High Justice. The Three departments of the Royal Bureaucracy are overseen by the Royal Secretariat, which reports to the Chief Secretary of the King, and the King himself. The secretariat maintains communication between the three boards and between the bureaucracy and the King to ensure, in theory, good governance. Below the national level the subsidiary city of Muyan is headed by a Governor appointed by the King, with the appointed usually being a relative of the King, while the King administers the city of Tiagho via the vicarious agency of a royal Prefect. Rural governance subsists in the administration of various Lords and temples over their estates, and in the organic self-organization of various village communities under headmen, who are sometimes hereditary, sometimes simply the most respected of the local elders. --- The Royal Army is led directly by the King, and is organized under a hierarchical system of generals (with the highest being the Lord Marshal). Tiagho maintains a civic obligation of military service and training as a consequence of regular wars with its neighbours, although the core of the army consists of an elite military caste, subsisting of members of the lower nobility and volunteers who dedicate perpetual service to the army. --- Taxation consists of a land tax assessed on the value of production, a poll tax on heads of household, fees for trading rights in the cities and the customs toll on exports/imports in addition to various particular taxes instituted by the King (such as a tax on purchases of Silk). A census regularly assesses the population of the Kingdom to ensure efficient taxation (and civic conscription), with this being undertaken under the direct oversight of the Royal Secretariat. The City The city itself lies behind two sets of levees against the possibility of flooding (the Abrea being a notoriously wild river), and has an additional canal looped around the west which handles any remaining overflow. In this canal is a lovely set of small waterfalls and bridges, with plants and orchards growing by what is nowadays typically a trickle, by the summer palace of the old kings of Tiagho. This complex has now been recycled into one of the main bureaucratic units of the city. In ancient times, it is said that the Gods came down to earth and dwelled across the river from here, setting their creations, most notably man, loose around the region of Tiagho. Here men built their first enclosure, and made war upon the gods when they turned evil, driving them out. Of old, the city's main god was a tremendous, foul serpent, and throughout most of the Dulama and Vithanama periods it followed the Dulama religion, since then it has turned almost exclusively to the religion of Iralliam under the auspices of the Patriarch of Tiagho, loyal to the Grandpatriarchy and the Orthodox Church. Category:Cities Category:West